A Secret Revealed - The Ruin I Summoned Forth

A Secret Revealed – The Ruin I Summoned Forth
Release Date: 16th October 2026
Label: Lifeforce Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Metal, Post-Black Metal, Black Metal.
FFO: King Apathy, Heretoir, Downfall of Gaia, Barriers, Moon Reaper.
Review By: Mark Young

Sometimes you read the press that comes with a review copy of new music, and you think there are just too many words; it’s saying too much. I guess when you have a band and music such as this, you could be forgiven for those words coming as quickly as they did. I’m still fuzzy on the whole post-metal thing, what is supposed to be or sound like, mainly because I’ve heard so many variations on what it can be.

What I do know is that this starts with an absolute rager with Disheartened (feat. Nikita Kamprad, Der Weg Einer Freiheit), a brief spoken sample, and then it’s off, black metal twisted so tightly it sparks, blasts that don’t quit all pulled together and wrapped up in fury. It’s low, but with a clarity to it, so when they start hitting those palm-muted notes, it’s heavy but hits like a blow to the head. If the idea is to put the strongest at the start, then they must be super confident in the songs that follow. Disheartened as an opening statement is a monster, and the worry is that the quality bar being set at such a high point, the following might not reach those heights. They don’t attempt to try and replicate it with Collapsar. Instead, they change the tack ever so slightly, dialling back a little on the aggression without losing any intensity. Completing the opening trio, Withered Eyes pares back the tempo and just crushes with discord. It also represents the first real change in build, as they bring in a lighter feel to it. What it has is an almost triumphant closing minute or so, with everything dialled up to really hammer it home.

The initial melodic introduction to The Great Dying and the subsequent slow crawl displayed is suddenly thrown with the addition of blasts during the middle, and towards the final phase. Like Withered Eyes, it does that thing where the final minute takes flight with fresh energy before they pull it back. Wisely, Torn From The Quiet goes on the offensive from the off in an attempt to avoid any mid-album lulls. What it does is gather up some fiendish rhythm patterns and light the blue touch paper on them. It’s not traditional black metal but shares the same aggressive DNA, which is present in each track, especially on Upheaval which starts off in that vein. It’s a measured performance, as they know exactly when to ease off and bring in the lighter melodic moments. Its good, but it’s a familiar approach. No Mercy For The Wicked picks up the baton and drops in the thunder, a melodic then muscular riff that bounds along. As the penultimate track, it does its job in building the energy up before they bring the curtain down with The Farewell. It captures all you expect from them in one space – the heaviness, the melodic touches, and all of that – and all told is a decent end to a very good album.

Overall, it was a difficult task to keep the quality/momentum built by Disheartened in place across the tracks that followed it. Personally, by keeping the song lengths around the same time and avoiding a more immediate or short stab, they have painted themselves into a corner by trying to maintain those run times and fill those spaces accordingly. I’m being a little churlish in saying that my reason is that those opening three songs are that good, the remainder couldn’t match them. In any event, it’s still a belter of an album and worthy of your time.